Joanna's Little Notions: 2009

My latest entry is following on from fellow blogger Amanda Beth who is running a Maid Marian inspired festival. So being a fellow enthusiast for medieval maidens, I thought I would share a few pictures of medieval inspired outfits that I've made this past year.

The first set of pictures are from some of my brides this year who all went for a medieval theme. One got married in a Scottish castle, and the other at Tintagel, the supposed site of Camelot! At the moment I can only upload the photos from the Scottish wedding, so my apologies and I'll upload the others as soon as I can!

The photos below come from 'The Lady of Shallot' film which I had great fun working on and the costumes were a fantastic mix of typical medieval, through Renaissance, to even Tudor inspiration. The inspiration was all taken from Pre-Raphaelite paintings, which in turn were inspired by Tennyson's poems and tales of Arthurian legend. Ok, so Robin Hood and Maid Marian are perhaps of a later period, but I can quite easily see these gowns in Maid Marian's wardrobe!

It's been such a long time since I last posted, in fact I hadn't realised quite how long until just now! I have been so unbelievably busy that this literally has been my first proper weekend off in about six months!

We made the most of the remaining English summer (which thankfully stayed blissfully warm after a year of planning!) and headed to the beautiful, Georgian city of Bath. It was of course no coincidence that weekend coincided with the 9th annual Jane Austen Festival. A twelvemonth of regency costume planning was finally realised in the last six weeks.

The day of the grand opening parade dawned mild and sunny, better than forecast, and we headed into the city centre with much anticipation. Our inititial qualms of looking 'odd' dissipated as we parked up and spotted numerous others stepping out of cars and adjusting their bonnets. We made our way through the beautiful and imposing buildings, across elegant squares and through the crowds of Saturday shoppers with their mix of admiring and quizzical stares and joined the growing throng of Janeites outside the Pump Room. My husband was also able to relax as he realised the number of men present far exceeded his expectations. The ladies, myself in particular, glanced about admiring the various gowns and bonnets inbetween the constant click and flash of cameras. We were very soon approached by a lady and her daughter who enquired after me through my Sense and Sensibility Forum name. They were dressed in delightful cotton gowns complimented by silk bonnets with a ruched crown and adorned with peacock feathers.

I should really take a moment to describe my own outfit incase the pictures don't do it justice (as pictures seldom do!). I wore a self-striped white cotton gown which was simply gathered across the bodice with little short gathered sleeves. As I was short on time and knew little would be seen of the upper gown, I kept it completely simple and made my spencer the 'pies d'resistance'. The spencer was made from a beautiful silk remnant that I had picked up many months ago and I adapted the pattern from my bridal spencer by adding a shawl collar and 'petals' to the top of the sleeves. i added contrast piping for a really striking effect (and am now in love with piping!)I had numerous sources of inspiration, but can really pin-point Lydia's 'going to Brighton spencer' from the '95 P&P adaptation for my fabric choice and one of Lizzie's spencers for the 'petals' also from the '95 version. My bonnet was made by cutting a full brimmed straw hat to shape and trimming it with white and dark blue. I was most delighted when one young lady ran up to me and excitedly exclaimed 'Georgiana Darcy! Yes your outfit is so hers!' before dashing off into the crowd again!

My husband's outfit is my first foray into tailored menswear and I am quite pleased with the result although naturally there are things I should like to improve on. The jacket, made from a lovely, soft wool used an adapted commercial pattern. I removed the waist seam and redrafted the tail section to give a more authentic look, although I stress look is what I was going for. The drop-front trousers are from the same commercial pattern and were made from a heavy linen which was dyed just two days before we left (after my husband felt he couldn't be seen wearing white trousers!). The patterns for his crisp, linen shirt and sumtuous, silk waistcoat were drafted by myself.

Now, back to the festival and we were soon joined by two other ladies from the Sense and Sensibility Forum who had come from Sweden and Australia. We had a few moments to chat briefly and make our introductions before it was announced to be eleven of the clock and the column of finely clad ladies and gentlemen moved off through the streets of Bath. It seemed to be much to the delight of the public who photographed every turn of hem and flutter of feathers, although one individual thought it necessary to pip his horn and curse loudly as we held up the traffic crossing one of the busy streets. Shame on him! I sincerely hope he had to wait to all 409 of us had passed! The uncultured man was soon quite forgot as we entered the Assembly Rooms to be counted for the World Record Attempt. It was a relief to get out of the increasingly warm sun (a parasol is in order for next time!) and as we waited for the long line to gather in the ballroom we were entertained by a group of young ladies who performed a number of country dances. Soon we were all present and the ten minute 'gathering' began. The record was broken with much cheering and applause and the press snapping and filming from the minstrels' gallery above.

We left the Assembly Rooms and followed the procession to the Royal Crescent were a 'gigapan' photograph had been proposed. As we lined up at the railings over looking the park and admiring the view over the Bath hills we realised it was after midday and the sun was becoming quite overwhelming. Starting to feel fatigued many, ourselves included, abandoned the grandeur of the Royal Crescent and continued the procession to the welcome shade and refreshments at Queen's Square where we reclined under the trees for a while.

All too soon it was time to temporarily say goodbye to our new friends as they made their way to various planned events and we went in search of sustenance. We found it in the lovely tea rooms at the Jane Austen Centre with real leaf tea and delicious cakes! Feeling revived we headed back out into the town exchanging friendly greetings as we passed other Janeites and frequently stopping for photos and questions with the public. We headed back up to the crescent where we visited the lovely museum of Number One, where the house has been restored to it's Georgian grandeur and the curators and other visitors alike admired how well we looked in the setting! We whiled away the remainder of the afternoon relaxing in the park before heading back to Queen's Square to meet some of our new friends for supper. We made our way to the famous Sally Lunn's. It was lovely to sit down for a meal in costume and we opted to keep our bonnets on (which we believed to be appropriate ettiquette). It was equally delightful when Mrs. Chancey of Sense and Sensibility Patterns (and to whom we are grateful for organising the tour for our overseas friends) and her family were seated at the next table. Another group of costumed Janeites soon followed and a lovely atmosphere settled over the dining room as darkness fell outside.

Eventually it was time to part company although we made promises to catch up on the morrow if time allowed before we all quitted Bath for home. And so we dispersed, a flicker of white hem and the gleam of top hat and cane amongst the Saturday night revellers like ghosts from the pages of history hurrying through the streets of Bath once more.